Are you concerned that you may not completely understand Special Needs Trusts (SNTs) and how they can be used with government benefits? Have you ever tried to explain SNTs to clients only to wonder if they fully comprehend all the details and procedures? SNTs can be very complicated.

When someone suffers a minor physical injury and a settlement is reached, the settlement funds offer financial peace of mind until the injured individual can resume normal activities. When a catastrophic injury occurs – requiring medical and personal care – the settlement takes on a more vital role. Settlements must last a lifetime so that the injured individual receives medical treatment and can lead as normal a life as physically and emotionally possible. Each catastrophic-injury case is different, but there are similarities that are the basis for determining the type of structured settlement to create.Continue Reading

Will Lindahl, Executive Director of CPT Special Needs Trusts, provides some clarification on Individual Special Needs Trusts and Pooled Special Needs Trusts. It’s a complex subject and this just scratches the surface, but I thought it might be helpfulContinue Reading

Details are important when it comes to structured settlements. So is timing. Counting down, here is the top 10 list of things to remember when creating a structure – for your client or for your legal fees.Continue Reading

Special Needs Trusts (SNTs) are an excellent way to hold the assets of injured parties while preserving their needs-based public benefits such as MediCal (Medicaid) and SSI. Certain rules apply when using any type of SNT, whether individual or pooled.Continue Reading

Will Lindahl, director of CPT, has put together a chart that concisely explains the differences between an Individual Special Needs Trust and a Pooled Special Needs Trust. Knowing these differences can be critical for the financial future of the injured and their families.

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal painted a bleak picture for those who have or are thinking of acquiring long-term care insurance. Premiums are soaring to the point that they have become unaffordable to many seniors. Insurance companies are nearly doubling premiums after realizing they had charged too little when the policies were introduced in the 1980s and 1990s. Insurance carriers have lost money and are leaving the market after widely underestimating the speed in which healthcare costs would rise, how long seniors would live and how many would actually use the premiums.Continue Reading

Over the past 20 years, more than 50 percent of the structured settlements facilitated by Ringler Associates, a national structured settlements brokerage firm, were less than $50,000. Another approximately 17 percent were between $50,000 and $100,000. These figures are typical of most annuity brokerage firms.Continue Reading

Pooled SNTs use a state-approved master Special Needs Trust that is administered by a non-profit rather than an individual or a bank. In California, Medi-Cal allows the transfer of settlement funds into a Pooled Trust or (d)(4)(C) trust for individuals of any age.Continue Reading